Wood/fuel for multifuel stoves

[Jason_01]

I fitted a multifuel stove on Christmas day, a little Jotul F100, I think its about 5.5KW just as a lounge heater really but we are fairly economical with heat and this mild winter it has been our main source of heat. Ive had a fire at least every evening since I fitted it and we have used about 4-5 cu m of wood and about 100KG of coal. Ive also aquired 3 chainsaws (Stihl MS260 is a cracking firewood saw) a maul and my front garden now looks like a Canadian pioneer settlement. Im fortunate that my job allows me to harvest and scrounge a fair amount of mixed hard and softwood but I didnt have much of a stash ready for this winter so I had to buy some in which is not an inexpensive proposition. Collecting, cutting, splitting and stacking wood for next winter has become a fairly major pre-occupation which so far I have quite enjoyed. In the city its not easy to run a multifuel burner cheaply unless you happen to have a job that gives you access to lots of free wood, its surprising how much you can burn even in a little stove.

There is definately an art to getting your stove burning just right, as already mentioned a good bed of embers is the key to a good wood fire and it takes a little practice to get the hang of running it just right. I often like to use a little coal as a quick way to create a good bed and then I burn hardwood logs on that closing down the vents somewhat once it is all well ignited. I like to see secondary burn or wood gas burning seperate from the wood itself when its ticking over nicely and up to heat rather than a great roaring inferno.

If you run the stove hot it should pretty much clean the glass itself, some types of coal do soot the glass up quite badly but I find I only tend to clean my glass once a fortnight or so, I empty my little ash pan every day.

This winter has been monumentally expensive in terms of buying kit and fuel but I expect I could get through next winter with no gas bill if SWMBO would just wear another sweater when the fires not going!

Cant beat a real fire, I love it, as do the cats!

[mloc]

I've had great results getting free and cheap wood from my local wood yard/sawmill.
Some of it is green fresh wood and some of it is old dry stock, the green stuff gets palletized for a year or two and the old stuff goes in the wood shed,
Avoid all man-made boards and treated wood, some of the chemicals are nasty even if they are the new types of chemicals or some of the old stuff from round the back

[pippyd]

Thanks for all the advice chaps. At the moment I'm collecting small amounts out on daily dog walks - one of springers assists quite well I'm under no illusions this will be enough, don't worry!

I do see some pretty major hardwood wind fall on farm land, some that has damaged fences. I'm wondering - do farmers have the time to remove a tree like that, a lot I've seen seem to be left where they are. I'm thinking about approaching a few to see what can be agreed - what do you think. It would be pretty big work are some are 100cm wide plus mature trees but serious amounts of wood....

Basemetal - cheers for all the sage tips. It's going to take a while to process!

Phil

[mloc]

I do see some pretty major hardwood wind fall on farm land, some that has damaged fences. I'm wondering - do farmers have the time to remove a tree like that, a lot I've seen seem to be left where they are. I'm thinking about approaching a few to see what can be agreed - what do you think. It would be pretty big work are some are 100cm wide plus mature trees but serious amounts of wood....

I have been cutting and sorting FREE wood from a local farmer because he is too busy to do anything with it.
so far i have over thirty cubic meters of green wood most of it Oak but a lot of others ( chestnut, beech, cherry and willow ) some of it wont be ready to burn or sell for a few years and i have had some trouble cutting the trunks with my saws, Ive even bought a petrol/hydraulic log splitter so i can get the most out of the wood

If you can find out who owns the land go and see them and ask you might just be doing them a big favor, three birds with one stone ( playing out doors, free/cheap wood and using powertools ).

[pippyd]

I have been cutting and sorting FREE wood from a local farmer because he is too busy to do anything with it.
so far i have over thirty cubic meters of green wood most of it Oak but a lot of others ( chestnut, beech, cherry and willow ) some of it wont be ready to burn or sell for a few years and i have had some trouble cutting the trunks with my saws, Ive even bought a petrol/hydraulic log splitter so i can get the most out of the wood

If you can find out who owns the land go and see them and ask you might just be doing them a big favor, three birds with one stone ( playing out doors, free/cheap wood and using powertools ).

That was exactly my thinking! I'll let you know if I have any success. I think the challenge will be finding things things that are manageable.... Either that or buying lots of kit to help process big trees... I know which is the BB way!

[rik_uk3]

You will be surprised at just how much wood you will go through in a year so take a good look at coal/coke/smokeless fuel for 'everyday' use. That big pile of wood you've had seasoning under a polytarp for a year will soon be a little pile; still great fun to have though

[maz]

I have a garage full of logs which I got for a bottle of gin off the local golf course green keeper. 6 trips in a long wheel base sprinter van it took me. Now I have the prospect of cutting/splitting/stacking it all I'm seriously considering purchasing an electric log splitter, as it would take me a year of weekends to get through it all.

[rik_uk3]

Not the fastest, but certainly safer than an axe, I use my neighbours, scroll down link for video

http://www.logsplitterworld.co.uk/ar...g-14897-855006

[Chopper]

I have been heating our large three bedroom house on just a multifuel stove since 1996.
We collect, cut and season all our own wood. Most comes from local tree surgeons which they are only too happy to have a hand to clear so never charge.











Taking in to consideraton fuel for the Landy and chainsaw, electric for the log splitter, I would guess that our winter heating bill is around £30 a year. Except this winter where we only burnt around 1/3 of what we would normally burn due to the abnormally warm weather. The stove is normally running 24/7 from October to late February / early March.

[Brian Sheehan]

Watching this with interest , just installed a mgultifuel in my house . The tree surgeon idea is brilliant ,would have never thought of it , will be searching the golden pages in ireland for local tree surgeons . Thanks for the tip , I burn mostly wood , got the frame off an old sofa , Pine , have been burning that for a couple of days .I have burned Turf in it , helps I've relations in the country side . Will be begging , borrow / stealing wood to burn in it

[pippyd]

Wow Chopper!

I will be speaking to a few in the coming weeks to see what I can do with them. What do you use to process the wood down in to decent sized stuff?

How many logs deep does that shed go and how many days will it last you? I ask this because a lot of people tell me about m3 or tonnes of wood and I can't visualise how 'much' wood that is..!

Cheers, Phil

I have been heating our large three bedroom house on just a multifuel stove since 1996.
We collect, cut and season all our own wood. Most comes from local tree surgeons which they are only too happy to have a hand to clear so never charge.











Taking in to consideraton fuel for the Landy and chainsaw, electric for the log splitter, I would guess that our winter heating bill is around £30 a year. Except this winter where we only burnt around 1/3 of what we would normally burn due to the abnormally warm weather. The stove is normally running 24/7 from October to late February / early March.

[Ludwell01]

I fire my burner with pallets almost exclusively as I get them free from a local paper merchants and pet store who have to pay to get rid of them. I usually do a big load in with my dad (he has an old estate car which will take 5 pallets at a time in it.

1 day of collecting 2 days of sawing and nearly completely free heating through the winter nov-feb.
I always give a box of chocolates or two to the staff as a small thank you and they seem to be very happy with the arrangement.

The thing I love about pallets is how dense you can pack with them due to their regular shape.
I fill this little shed to the brim.



If it's a really cold winter this isn't enough but I don't have the space for more.
Due to the warm winter we just had I got through about 3/4 of the shed this year.
But even if I run out I'm still doing wonders to the fuel bill.

[Chopper]

Wow Chopper!

I will be speaking to a few in the coming weeks to see what I can do with them. What do you use to process the wood down in to decent sized stuff?

How many logs deep does that shed go and how many days will it last you? I ask this because a lot of people tell me about m3 or tonnes of wood and I can't visualise how 'much' wood that is..!

Cheers, Phil

Each log is about 12" long. The large airer is about 7' x 6' x 3' and holds three layers. The small airer is around 4' x 3' x 3'and again holds three layers. These two last around four months burning 24/7. The two layers along the side of the Landy is about 4' high and 18' long, these will refill the large airer. I try to season the logs for two years, a good sign of a well seasoned log is plenty of cracking and the bark seperating from the wood, just like the one in this pic:



You can get away with a lot less seasoning if you can get hold of Ash, how long you season it for I am not sure, but I am sure you can find out with some googleing.

I have a couple of chainsaws and a log splitter which at my age is a life saver, three days of swinging me chopper plays havoc with my back. If you are thinking of using a chainsaw, get proper training and wear the correct safety equipment.

My log splitter: http://www.internetgardener.co.uk/pr...g-splitter/775

British Red on BCUK bought one of these and loves it to bits.

If you have any questions fire away, we all had to learn this very rewarding method of heating our homes.

[beachcaster]

With an eye on safety ....if you are going to use a chainsaw why not do a basic chainsaw course at your local agrigcultural college.........even a day course would be useful.
Buy protective boots and trousers and wear the right head gear.
Lasy year a local pro with years of experience died in a chainsaw accident. I work with a lot of machines that will hurt you..but the one I am most wary of is the chainsaw........so just be a bit careful.

barry

[Fast but dim]

pip, dunno if i've told you this, but i had a woodburner as my main source of heat for over a decade until last year, when we had central heating fitted to our ex council semi.

for a few years i burned wood, anything i could get, unsaesoned wood, pallets, fenceposts, decking, which was great until i had a couple of chimney fires, one serious enough to scare me into changing my ways!

Well seasoned wood is great, if you can get it, but as has been said, unless it's ash etc you need a surprising amount, which means a lot of collecting / seasoning. I just about gave up on wood, and changed over to coal / smokeless, mainly due to the work involved in getting hold of and storing enough decent wood. with a good supplier or enough time you're ok, but it's good to have some doubles to get a good fire quick, and some supatherm to keep a hot fire in when it's really cold. If you buy some coal loose in bulk in summer you'll get a better deal.